Moving bulky and/or heavy loads on the floor or through aisles not only takes time, but can also result in serious injuries. This is exactly where an overhead crane comes into play, and enables warehouse owners to easily lower, lift or move loads horizontally through the overhead space of their facility.
With high lifting capabilities for load movement, overhead cranes are controlled by an operator, either manually or through wireless controls or a wired pendant station that guides their travel. If you are looking to invest in an overhead crane for your facility, reviewing their uses and benefits can help you make the right decision:
What Are the Uses of Overhead Cranes?
Overhead cranes, or bridge & jib cranes, are used extensively in many industrial situations to facilitate the processing and handling of heavy, oversized objects that other material handling methods and equipment cannot. They are utilized in a variety of areas, including:
- Warehousing to move heavy, large objects to and from the dock areas.
- Assembly to move unfinished products through their production processes.
- Transportation to load manufactured products onto railcars or open trailers.
- Storage to transport bulky and/or heavy loads to and from storage areas.
What are the Benefits of Overhead Cranes?
When it comes to running a warehouse or large industrial business, you not only require high-quality tools, but also the right tools to keep your processes running smoothly. With an overhead crane, you will be able to maximize productivity, quickly transport goods and objects around your facility, and enjoy a range of other benefits, including:
Increased Safety
Forklifts carry the risk of imprecise stacking, dropping goods as well as accidents (due to crashing). Since an overhead crane moves objects through the overhead space of the facility, they don’t carry any of these risks and are capable of moving heavy and bulky loads more quickly than forklifts.
Improved Load Control
Overhead cranes, more often than not, come with precision controls that will position objects precisely and without much trouble. This allows the operator to place the load exactly where they want it to be, while minimizing human error.
Avoid Floor Obstructions
Since overhead cranes are positioned as high as your facility’s ceiling, they avoid just about everything on your warehouse floor. This, in turn, allows you to install the device just about anywhere you desire. Also, you will be able to carry items safely above any obstacles, thereby reducing product damage.
Improved Ergonomics
Because the overhead cranes do the heavy lifting for you, they remove strain on your operators, which reduces risk of injury, while reducing worker fatigue.
Easy Lifting of Loads
As mentioned earlier, overhead cranes come with high lifting capabilities. Once you have your crane, you can depend on it to lift and transport your goods to other parts of your facility. However, every cranes have a specified lift capacity, so make sure you don’t exceed it to avoid the risk of accidents or failure.
Customizable
Overhead cranes can be easily customized by adding one of many Below-The-Hook accessories including lifting beams, spreader beams, roll & coil lifters, tongs, sheet lifters and pallet lifters.